Dr. George Kalichman's First Old Country Clinic

Dr. I.I. Mayba

Born in Romania on August 16, 1879, Dr. George Hirsh Kalichman is remembered as one of the early Jewish physicians in Winnipeg. Immigrating to Canada in 1911 and taking the qualifying exams from the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons in the same year, Kalichman opened his first medical practice at 377 Selkirk Avenue in 1912.

The services offered at Kalichman's "First Old Country Clinic" on Selkirk Avenue included: laboratory tests for heart, lung, bowel, stomach, and liver disease, in addition to microscopic examination of blood, urine, nose, and throat secretions. By the 1920s, the clinic offered a number of treatments for venereal disease, including urethroscopy, neo-salvarsan, and silver injections. Kalichman's clinic also offered pioneering radiology therapy in the form of roentgen examinations for hard and soft tissues.

Like many other Canadians, Kalichman's career was interrupted by the First World War. He volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915, serving as a Lieutenant until 1917. Soon after, Kalichman soon after returned to medical practice in Winnipeg, where he continued to operate the clinic on Selkirk Avenue with the help of Isaac Pearlman, who would later graduate from the Manitoba Medical College. Pearlman enjoyed a distinguished medical career in Winnipeg as a Fellow in Physiology at the Manitoba Medical College, later specializing in disorders of the gastrointestinal system. Later, Dr. Kalichman would serve as a physician to the Jewish Orphanage on Matheson Avenue. He also specialized in dermatology and became the co-founder and Vice-President of the Jewish Medical Society in Winnipeg, before moving to Santa Monica, California in 1923.

Isaac Pearlman worked alongside Kalichman at the Clinic while attending the Manitoba Medical College. Pearlman would go on to work as a Fellow in the Department of Physiology (Manitoba), under Dr. Swale Vincent and worked in Chicago, Illinois under Dr. Bertram Sippy. Pearlman graduated from Manitoba's medical college in 1920 and later specialized in disorders of the gastrointestinal system.

The services offered at Kalichman's "First Old Country Clinic" on Selkirk Avenue included: laboratory tests for heart, lung, bowel, stomach, and liver disease, in addition to microscopic examination of blood, urine, nose, and throat secretions. By the 1920s, the clinic offered a number of treatments for venereal disease, including urethroscopy, neo-salvarsan, and silver injections. Kalichman's clinic also offered pioneering radiology therapy in the form of roentgen examinations for hard and soft tissues.

As of 2014, the building that housed the Old Country Clinic is still standing at 377 Selkirk Avenue.